


Through the years we all will be together

by SlarStarsFanFics



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben is alive because I say so, Christmas, Diego Has His Bi Awakening, Diego Has Raynauds Disease Because I’m Projecting, F/M, Family Bonding, Five Learning How To Be A Person Again, Fluff, Gen, Good Parent Allison Hargreeves, Good Parent Grace Hargreeves, Jewish Eudora Patch, Mentioned in Passing But Yeah, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Patrick isn’t a bad guy because I say so, Potentially OOC, Sensory Overload, Sibling Bonding, and incredibly self indulgent, everyone gets to hang out with everyone else, possibly the longest thing I’ve ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlarStarsFanFics/pseuds/SlarStarsFanFics
Summary: The Hargreeves spend their first Christmas together, Apocalypse free!
Relationships: The Hargreeves Family, past Allison Hargreeves/Patrick, past Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 39





	Through the years we all will be together

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be so much better, but because of rushing, you guys get short sections and tons of dialogue. Merry Christmas!!!

The mall was fucking huge, and Klaus and Allison faced it arm in arm. They walked past Santa’s workshop and heard the unmistakable sound of children shrieking. Santa looked panicked and Elves in red and green striped tights ran to and fro and tried to calm the little ones for photos. Christmas lights reflected off linoleum floors and tinsel and jumbo ornaments were everywhere. Booths played the stop motion Rudolph and Frosty movies and speakers blared Mariah Carey from every direction. 

“The decorating team went all out this year,” Klaus said as he walked face-first into a hanging ornament.

“No kidding. This is the 5th time I’ve heard this song today alone.”

“I know right?”

A gaggle of children ran by, and Allison felt her heart clench. Patrick had agreed to a video call on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when presents were being opened, and she was grateful! But she wanted to be with her daughter this Christmas so badly. Her brother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled sympathetically. “We can pick a little something up for Claire too if you want.”

She smiled back. “I’d like that.” 

Klaus suddenly exclaimed as they nearly walked past the House of Knives, and they both hurried in. “For our dear stabby brother. Oh and maybe Mom too! They have kitchen knives, see…” 

After knife shopping, they stopped at the bookstore and managed to get stuff for Ben, Vanya, and Luther at the same time. They ping-pong-ed around the mall for an entire afternoon, managing to get gifts for everyone but Five. 

“What does that little gremlin even like?” Klaus asked as they collapsed onto a bench and dropped their bags unceremoniously onto the ground. “Blood, axes, guns… Oh! We could get him a jumbo-sized bag of coffee!”

“No. We don’t want him to think we support his caffeine addiction.” Allison groaned, “Why is he so hard to shop for! I mean, you and mom were a bit challenging, but Five is impossible!” 

“We could get him bucket loads of candy and watch him go off the walls, that’d be fun.” 

“It would be. And maybe he’d actually sleep when he has a sugar crash!” 

They sat thinking for a while, resting their aching feet. What would Five like? Allison was ashamed to say that she didn’t know much about her brother. They weren’t all that close as children, and their family was just trying to get back on its feet after all the apocalypses they had to fix. She racked her brain for things Five might have liked when they were young. Memories of sneaking out to get donuts and chocolate flooded in. Wandering around on the cold streets at night, getting candy and stopping by the …animal shelter. Allison suddenly sat up.

“I GOT IT! Grab your things, we’re making one more stop before we go home!”

* * *

Ben could feel his heart fill with glee. The store seemed to be glowing. Shelves were chock full of ornaments and lights and those weird spotlight things that white suburban people bought. He turned excitedly to Vanya, who was just grinning. 

“Okay, we’ve somehow come to a consensus that we’re doing a colour theme, red and gold.” She reminded him. “As long as we keep that in mind, we can go batshit.” 

“Perfect.” He grabbed her hand and they ran to the first set of shelves. Snowmen and snowflakes and globes were hanging on shiny strings. “Hey, do you think we could get one for each of us? Like ornament representations or something?” 

Vanya nodded. “That sounds fun! Do you think they have any astronauts? Or film cameras or something?” 

“We can find out!”

They ran from shelf to shelf for an hour, ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the shiny baubles. They found an astronaut, and a Batman, a sparkly boa, a cup of coffee with an asshole-ish slogan, a waffle, and a violin. Then they managed to find an ornament that literally was Allison on the Tv/Movies shelf. 

“This is probably the first time I’ve actually wanted to use my powers.” Ben had an armful of bags, and Vanya was no better.

“You’re gonna drop something.”

“I’m not gonna drop anything.”

To both siblings' surprise, he didn’t drop anything. They made it all the way to the car Vanya had bought with her inheritance. Public transportation could be a bit of a hassle, plus Diego had insisted.  _ “Do you know what kinda weirdos take the bus? I don’t want you getting followed off or something.” _

“You missed a turn.”

“Dead people can’t drive.”

* * *

_ Because I, because I got a bullet in my gun;  _ **_a bullet in your what?_ ** _ (Santa’s got a bullet in his gun) _

Luther spun the volume dial down. “Diego, what are you making me listen to?”

Diego choked down a laugh. “Bro, it’s a classic.”

Luther raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Really. It’s a Christmas must-listen, cross my heart.”

“Whatever you say.” 

**_Don't shoot me Santa Claus, I've been a clean living boy I promise you, did every little thing you ask me to_ **

“Good Lord.”

It took them another half-hour of driving to get to the Christmas Tree Farm. The two of them had been tasked with getting the tree. Something about them being the strongest, and it totally had nothing to do with the fact that this was likely going to be a disaster. 

“You brought the axe, right?” 

“No Luther, I’m completely stupid.” 

“Sorry.” 

They finally pulled into the lot and spent the next 15 minutes trying to get a parking spot. And then they spent another 20, very cold minutes wandering. 

“What about that one?”

“Nah it’s too short.”

“That one?”

“No. How ‘bout that one?”

As they walked, Diego noticed the tips of his fingers start to numb. The stinging started to spread up his fingers to his knuckles and down to his wrists. He cursed under his breath. 

“You forgot gloves didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“You wanna borrow so-“

“No!”

“Fine!” Luther raised his arms in surrender, “Have fun throwing knives without your fingers.”

Diego grumbled and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Hey how about that one?”

The tree in question was perfect. Not too big, not too small. Perfect branches and perfectly green needles. So Diego tossed Luther the axe and they got started. 

“You have to check to see which way it’s gonna fall.”

“It’s leaning left.”

“It’s really not.”

“You’re standing opposite to me, dumbass.” 

So Diego moved (his right, Luther’s left) and Luther swung. It went all the way through in one swing. It fell and hit the snowy ground with a thump. 

“Well…” 

“So much for not using our powers in public spaces.” 

“You should have let me do it.”

“Shut up.”

Walking back to the car was some sight. A large man holding a tree, clearly holding the brunt of the weight, and a shorter man holding on to the back seemingly putting no effort in. At one point he brought one hand off of the trunk and hid it in his coat. 

The tree was loaded safely onto the car, and they drove off listening to Diego’s weird Christmas Music. 

* * *

The scratch-scratching of a pen filled the sitting room. The sleeves of the flannel shirt that Five was practically forced into covered up his knuckles. He would tell anyone that asked that he was doing equations, but he was writing a list of Christmas gifts to get his siblings. Everyone was out of the house, so he figured now was the best time. 

“Five, dear, could you come to help me please?”

His head instinctively shot up from his notebook at the sound of his mother’s voice. Damn, he forgot about mom. He blinked into the kitchen.

“Yeah?”

Grace greeted him with a smile. She was in one of her usual 60s inspired outfits.  **She** had those kinds of outfits as well. But Grace’s dresses had such a huge contrast from the Handler. While the Handler’s were dark and sharp and threatening, his mother’s were all pastels and seemed warm and familiar somehow. 

“Well, all of your siblings are out on errands, so I was wondering if you would help me do some baking.” 

An unwitting smile crossed his face. “Sure mom. Whatever you need.” 

“Wonderful. I was going to make some Christmas cookies and some hot cocoa for when your siblings get home.” 

“Sounds good. What would you like me to do?”

She gave him instructions and they got started. Five found himself getting into the groove of beating cookie doe, and was surprised that he didn’t bristle at Grace’s gentle corrections; adjusting his arms, asking him to slow down, and laying a hand on his so he’d stop stirring. 

She pulled out a tin container and opened it up. It was filled with metal shapes, new and shiny. Five assumed the cookie cutters were newly bought for her, probably by Diego or Allison. 

“You spread out the dough with the rolling pin and cut out shapes! Isn’t that adorable?”

“Sure is mom.”

He picked out a candy cane and a snowflake. He was surprised at how much he was enjoying himself. It was all strangely domestic, something he never thought he would be able to do again. And boy had he missed his Mom’s cooking. 

The cookies were put in the oven, and Five was about to wander back off. Grace stopped him. 

“Would you like some Cocoa dear? I can put a peppermint stick in it like you like.”

And all the sudden it clicked. He hadn’t spent quality time with his Mother in a very long time. When he returned, she was malfunctioning. She had barely reacted to his return. Now they were out of immediate danger and she was repaired, she just wanted to spend time with him. 

“I’d like that.”

* * *

_ A… C… ugh _

_ A… C… that one by the double black keys… ARGh  _

Luther would say his piano skills were a bit rusty. And by rusty, he would mean his fingers were too big and he was scared of breaking the keys and he hadn’t played in 6 years. But relearning an instrument is just like riding a bike, or maybe that just for Vanya. At least she still fit her violin.

_ Scales, start with scales.  _

_ C, D, E-F, SHIT  _

“Luther? What are you doing?” Vanya and Ben had returned with bags full of ornaments and lights, and the brightest smiles he’d ever seen on the pair. 

“I’m trying to relearn this… it’s a lot harder than I remember.” 

“Oh, you used to play, didn’t you! I almost forgot. How’s it coming?” Vanya dropped her bags and leaned over the side of the piano. 

“Not good. My fingers are too big, they hit too many keys.”

“Think of it this way; the keys are too small.” Ben laughed. 

“Yeah, I wish. I feel like that Beethoven kid from Charlie Brown.” 

They all laughed. It wasn’t an awkward laugh, just… comfortable. Warm. It felt foreign to Luther, but he was glad he’d found it.

“Well keep trying. Once you get back into the swing of it, it’s easy. Promise.” Vanya laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“Okay.”

* * *

Ben had volunteered right away when he learned that Luther was going to the record store. He hadn’t been since he was a kid, and he was always happy to hang out with his brother. They had a proper conversation about misplaced guilt and self-blame after Ben was resurrected, but they found it difficult to fall back into their old closeness. 

“So, do you have any in mind?” He asked as they walked down the snowy sidewalk.

“Well, Bing Crosby and Elvis are a given, oh and Sinatra. Did you know he had Mafia ties?”

“Oh, so you were friends then.”

Luther laughed a little. They pushed open the door and took it all in. Famous albums covered the walls in all the places that shelves weren’t. Shelves and boxes filled the whole room from wall to wall, leaving just enough room for walking space. 

“I haven’t been in here since I was 19. Dad caught me once, nailed the window to the fire escape shut.”

“Seriously? Asshole.”

“Yeah.”

They went from box to shelf, flicking through the cases. They picked out a whole bunch of Christmas albums, as well as some remasters. Luther went up to pay.

“Hey, do you remember that coffee place we went to when we were kids?” Ben asked as they walked out the door.

“What about it?”

“You wanna go?”

“Whatever you want.” Luther smiled. Ben grabbed his hand and started pulling him along.

“Great, because I was also thinking about going to the Gap to get Five a gift. Lord knows he needs new clothes.”

* * *

When Vanya had mentioned never having Starbucks, Allison took it upon herself to take her. Good sister points, right? Vanya had raised an eyebrow at the window decals and promotional sandwich signs, and her optimism hadn’t grown at the sight of the decorations. She murmured something about corporate Christmases and capitalism. 

They were greeted by a barista with candy-cane dyed hair and an elf hat.

“What do you want?” Allison asked.

“Uhhh… I’m not sure. What is there?”

“There’s peppermint mocha, peppermint hot chocolate, eggnog latte, gingerbread latte… or you could get the cranberry cake or a snowman cookie!” 

“Uhhhhh…”

“Take your time.” The barista said with a smile. 

“You order first, I’ll try and pick.”

“Okay.”

Allison got a Toasted White Chocolate Mocha with whip cream and peppermint shots and Vanya got a hot chocolate. They got their drinks and decided on a walk. 

“Wait, he really said that?”

“Yeah. ““ _ You gotta kill the diseased cow _ ”” like dude, me being gay won’t turn your son gay, what the fuck!”

“Dick.”

Vanya laughed. She felt a sense of fulfilment all of the sudden. She’s finally hanging out with her sister, doing weird sister things. They’re getting coffee and walking in the freezing cold because why not? 

“Hey Allison?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

“Klaus, sweetie, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Grace wasn’t all too pleased to see one of her sons on the very top of a very tall ladder. 

“Don’t worry about little old me,  _ Maman. _ I’m good at balancing.” 

“Oh, I know.” She replied with a grin. “But at least let me hold the ladder for you.”

“Alright, whatever makes you feel better,” Klaus said as he hung the segment of tinsel. He had nearly finished this part of the bannister, what with the lights and ribbon. He felt the ladder’s shaking come to an immediate stop. It was easy to forget how strong his Mom was. 

Now he was thinking about it, it was quite easy for him to forget mom altogether. He barely gave her a second thought after he left the house. The thought didn’t feel great.

After an hour, they had managed to get all the tinsel up, as well as lights. Finally, they started on the remaining ball ornaments. They hadn’t known how many to get to fit on a tree so they ended up with a lot of excess. 

“Honey, that won’t stay.”

“Course it will,” Klaus’ voice sounded strained, “See?”

But the ornament didn’t stay. And in his rush to catch it, Klaus fell off the ladder, his head narrowly missing the side of the fireplace. Grace was standing over him within the second.

“Don’t say I told you so.” He groaned.

* * *

With Mom fussing over Klaus in the other room, Allison and Vanya out of the house, and Luther and Ben still not back from what was supposed to be a quick trip out, Five thought he could get some peace. 

He was wrong.

Diego slumped into the chair across from him with a loud  _ oof. _ He was holding a large jar of Candy-Canes.

“Nabbed these from the cupboard.”

“Momma’s boy stealing? What would she say?”

“Do you want one or not?”

He did. 

“... I bet I can get mine sharper than yours.”

“You’re on.”

Looking back, this was probably the most embarrassing thing the two had done. Making intense eye contact while sucking on candy canes? But in the moment, it was the most intense thing they'd done since their lives had settled down. The unspoken prize of the silent competition? Stabbing. 

Klaus walked in with an ice pack on his head,

“Why the fuck are you two making candycane shanks?” 

“Mind your own business.” Five said around his candy cane.

“Yeah mind your business.”

At that moment, Five finished his and jabbed it into Diego’s thigh.

“Mother FUCK!”

“Don’t be a baby.”

Diego yanked Five’s candy cane out and swiftly returned the favour.

“This is war!”

Klaus slowly backed away. 

“I’m just gonna go get Mom.”

* * *

”How did you know how to find this place?”

”Oh, I have my ways.”

Klaus had snuck his little sister away from Allison to surprise her. He figured if Allison claimed Vanya’s-first-Starbucks, then he would get Vanya’s-first-Christmas-lights-walk.

Lights formed a long archway that led to the sectioned off piece of the park. Vanya’s face lit up as she walked towards one of the walls. Klaus pulled out his camera and hit the button before she could notice. 

“Hey!” She laughed. “I wasn’t ready.” 

“It's called a candid, Vanny.” 

Music played from the overhead speakers, and Klaus offered Vanya an arm. “May I have this dance, my lady?” He said with a faux-British accent.

She took it with a giggle. “It would be my pleasure.”

They danced under the archway, ignoring the stares from onlookers. The song finished and Klaus picked up his sister bridal style and ran through the rest of the tunnel into the clearing as she laughed. 

“Hey you probably already had drinks, but…” He pointed at an Apple cider stand. Vanya grinned. 

“Let’s go.” 

They got their Cider and looked around. Eventually Vanya got sick of getting surprised by the camera. She yanked it out of his hands.

“My turn.”

“No fair.”

By the time they left they had enough photos to fill up their new family photo album. 

* * *

“Five, are you okay?”

Five sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the calculations on his walls. After all of this, all the calculations, all the time travel, he was going to have a proper holiday with his family. 

Luther stood worried in the doorway, with his hand in the frame, clearly trying to stop himself from crushing it from worry or anger, it was usually hard to tell. 

“I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” That felt weak. Luther must have noticed, because he just sighed and settled in the chair across from him. 

“I know I’m not the best person to talk to, but if you need to then I’m here.”

Five sighed. Why must his brother be so frustratingly earnest? 

“It’s weird, I guess. Being home, celebrating the holidays. Dad wasn’t one for celebrating, and then being alone for so long?” He sighed, “This is my first real Christmas and I’m 58. It’s weird.”

“We’re all weird. And we all want to make this good.”

“I know. It means a lot.” He surprised himself by smiling. It grew when he saw his brother’s face light up. 

“I kinda celebrated before. Once, on the moon. Saved up a few rations so I could splurge, read some of my for-pleasure books. It was really sad looking back.”

“Yeah, that’s pathetic. Can’t say I didn’t do the same, though. One time I found fruit cake, lord knows how long it was sitting there, but I figured I’d save it. It was nothing like Mom’s, but it did the trick.”

They just sat for a moment. It was a strange sort of sad, bonding over their loneliness and pain. A comradery of sorts. 

“Anyways… Mom wanted to know if you’d wrapped your gifts yet.”

“Weeks ago.” Five continued staring at the floor. Luther looked around awkwardly before standing.

“What do you want, by the way? Don’t say alcohol.” 

Five snickered a little.

“Honestly Luther, being with my family for Christmas is the only gift I need.”

“That's sweet, and don't get me wrong I'm touched, but seriously. What do you want? You are impossible to buy for.” 

Five laughed. 

“You’ll figure it out.”

* * *

Ben was putting his breakfast dishes away when Allison had grabbed him and told him to get his boots and coat on. 

“I have a surprise. I’ll meet you in the car!”

So he grabbed his jacket and his wallet (which just contained a debit card under his sister’s name and a whole bunch of pictures of his siblings and niece) and ran out to his sister’s car.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise!”

They drove through the plowed and salted streets. They wouldn’t stay that way for long, it had started snowing again. 

They pulled into the parking lot of an amphitheatre. It was decorated, and there was a sign outside.

“Christmas fair?”

“There’s tons of small businesses that sell their stuff here, it’s all amazing.”

And she was right. There were booths filled with soap and pastries and handmade trinkets. On the wall, there were tapestries and the room was covered in decorations. 

“Allison, look!”

He had spotted a candle stand. They were never allowed candles. They were too frivolous and held no purpose. The pair ran up to it, greeting the seller with smiles. There were a whole bunch of different scents, peppermint, wine, apple pie, etc. Ben grabbed one off of the shelf.

“What does flannel even smell like?” 

“I have no clue. Wanna find out?”

“Absolutely!”

* * *

The record player screeched a little before settling into the grooves. 

_ Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock; _

_ Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring _

Luther slowly started tapping his toes to the beat. Then he started swaying a little. 

“Luther, dear, what are you doing?”

“Dancing, Mom. Remember, I taught you?”

“Oh, yes. Of course,” the grin never left her face, but her tone shifted. “It’s been so long.”

It had been, Luther remembered. Even longer for him than for her. He still felt guilty over his adamance to basically euthanize their mother. Definitely not one of his brightest moments, and to the robo-  _ woman _ who had raised him and been who turned out to be his only trustworthy companion for those years alone. He suddenly had an idea. 

“I could… show you again? If you’re not busy.”

“I would like that very much.”

* * *

_ I'm so hard to handle, I'm selfish and I'm sad; Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had _

Diego knew exactly where he was going. Even with his head fuzzy and uncooperative, he knew. Finding it was one of the first things he did when he got back to his timeline.

He pulled onto the side of the gravel road and headed towards the metal gates. He had flowers in one of his hands and a Christmas card in the other. He was wearing gloves. She would’ve been on his ass if he’d forgotten.

Heavy boots weaved through tombstones, looking at the names, though he didn’t need to to find the one he was looking for.

“Hey. I know I'm visiting on the wrong holiday, but we were recovering from being in a whole different timeline at the beginning of Hanukkah. But I brought you something.”

He placed a bushel of Camellias in front of the grave stone.

“I know you hate roses.”

Eudora’s name sat there in stone. It seemed as if it were taunting him.

“I miss you. I think if you were still here we’d get along a lot better. I wish we had made it work.”

He let a tear fall, then stood and brushed off the snow. 

“Happy Holidays Dora.”

* * *

“Hey, Five?”

Five looked up from his notebook. Ben stood kind of awkwardly in the doorway. He was fidgeting, which wasn’t in the norm for him. 

“Yes?”

“Do you want to go somewhere? For a walk or something?”

“Why?”

“The house is just… really loud right now. I need out.”

“Of course,” Five didn’t miss a beat. He put his things down and blinked to his cupboard to grab a coat and scarf. “Meet you outside.” 

And he was gone.

Ben wandered downstairs, stumbling a bit. He had woken up with a headache and things had just spiralled from there. He felt like he could hear everything. 

He wondered if Vanya sometimes experienced the same thing. 

Loud music was playing from the living room, along with the clicking of moms shoes on the floor and the soft, rumbling thumps of Luther’s feet. The front door slammed shut, sending a sharp pain through his skull. Diego had just gotten home from wherever it was he had gone. 

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Um, for a walk.” He mumbled.

“Okay. Be safe. And uh,” Diego tossed a toque at him, “Stay warm. It’s freezing.”

He nodded. Five was waiting outside, leaning against the fence. 

“Park?”

“Sure.”

So they walked in silence, packing snow under their shoes. All things considered, it was a beautiful day. Birds cheeped and chattered in the trees and the sky was bright. The trees in the park had iced over, and icicles stuck out of the ground under them. 

Five gently bumped his arm,“So. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know…” Ben was all of the sudden very interested in his shoes, “I’m still getting used to the whole being alive thing. It's been so long and it’s really easy to get overwhelmed.”

“I get it. I felt the same way when I joined the commission. Years of nothing and then boom. Everything. And it’s loud.”

“Yeah. I just needed some quiet.”

“Well in that case, I’m glad you invited me to be quiet with you.” 

* * *

Klaus had once heard that the best gifts were handmade. It sounded like bullshit at the time, but this year he thought,  _ hey, Luther likes sweaters! I can knit! I know how to make sweaters!  _ And so here he was knitting in the family room. 

“You can knit?” Luther’s voice said from the doorway.  _ Speak of the devil- _

“Yuh-huh. Some old dude I met in rehab when I was… 22 insisted on teaching me. He got bored easily. It‘s soothing. I can show you if you want.”

He shrugged, but made his way to the couch and sat down. He looked uncomfortable, trying to keep his space occupation limited.

Klaus laid across his brother’s lap and held up the needles so he could see. Luther seemed to melt at the touch. 

“You just push it in, wrap the loose yarn around, then dip the needle in and pull off.” 

“Cool.”

“I know right. You just keep going and it gets really long. For this I have to make seperate pieces and put them together later.”

“Who’s it for?”

Klaus reached up and booped his nose. 

“You’ll have to wait and see, brother dear.”

* * *

Diego swung towards Vanya before opening the door. “Okay, do you have gloves?”

“Yes.”

“A scarf and hat?”

“Yes Diego, geez.”

“Hey, I just don’t want you to freeze.”

The drive was short and warm, as Diego had finally gotten his heating fixed. The whole town was freezing, and there was snow wherever you looked. They pulled into the park and grabbed the sleds out of the trunk. 

“You gotta be careful with the positioning,” Diego said as they trudged up the hill, “you don’t want to hit a tree or anything.”

“I’m not stupid Diego.”

“I know. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Vanya smiled. There were children and parents everywhere, but they managed to find a spot to start. They set off, and Vanya couldn’t help but let out a scream. The wind hit her face and nearly blew her hat off. They got to the bottom at the same time.

“That was amazing! Let’s go again.”

They raced back to the top and found a spot with a snow ramp on the path. Vanya started first, earning herself an irritated yell from her brother. As she slid she focused on the screeches and laughter of the children around her. All of the sudden, she was going faster. She hit the ramp and flew in the air, landing in a snowbank. She recovered fast and ran towards Diego.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah I saw that, that was amazing holy shit!”

They went again. And again. And again and again and again. It was the most fun they’d had in a while. 

It was they’re final run. They had to set up their sleds at the very edge of the hill duo to the sheer mass of people. They both started to go, but Diego veered off course. Vanya didn’t notice him slam face first into a tree, wind was rushing past her, filling her ears. 

She reached the bottom and looked around confused. Where did he go? She turned back towards the hill and saw him sprawled out on the snowy ground.

“Hey! Are you okay?” She helped pull him up.

“I hit a tree?”

“Yup.”

“I think I hit my head.”

“Me too. Let’s go home.”

* * *

“Klaus, we’re two 32-year-old men. Why are we going carolling?”

“Because Benerino, it’ll be fun! Plus, technically dead people don’t age so you’re still 17.” He said, handing him a songbook.

“That’s not how that works. And don’t you think people will be weirded out?”

“You gotta loosen up man! You only live once- oh wait.”

“Not cool.”

They went door to door, jabbing elbows and singing off-key. 

_ Troll the ancient Yuletide carol _

_ Fa la la la la, la la la la _

_ Fa la la la la, la la la la _

_ Fa la la la la, la la la la _

_ La la la la, la la la la la la la la la— _

“You fa la la la la-d for too long.” Ben complained as they left the last house.

Klaus scrunched up his nose,

“I did not asshole. I was putting my own flair on things.” 

“Well you threw me off!”

“Deal with it.” 

“You’re such a piece of shit.”

“You love me.”

“Yeah. Yeah I do.”

* * *

Allison sat in a chair in the basement, head in her hands. She missed Claire so much. And Ray. Their short time together had genuinely been the happiest time of her life. No powers, no manipulation, she was in love. Their first Christmas together had been incredible. Lazy mornings, plenty of homemade food. They’d gone to Odessa’s for dinner.

To some extent, she even missed Patrick. She genuinely loved him. She wasn’t sure if he felt the same. She’d never rumoured him, not really, but their relationship was built on lies. Just like her career. But he had given her her first real holiday season. 

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of her mother’s humming. 

“Hey mom, can I talk to you?”

“Of course. What is it?” She pulled up a chair.

“How did you do it? When we were all away, how did you manage? I’ve been away from my daughter for such a long time with no contact and it’s been so difficult. I’ve been married twice, and I lost both of them. I ruined my chances with Patrick and I regret it every day of my life! And sometimes I can’t help but regret leaving Ray. I found his nursing home, I could visit but I- He was amazing and beautiful and so good to me and I left. I know we had to save the world but...“ She paused, “I’m tired of missing people.”

Grace smiled ruefully. “It was never easy. Of course I had Pogo and your father but they weren’t exactly the best company. But you keep going. You have to.”

Grace grabbed her hand. “How about this dear: we can take some of the cookies your brother and I made and send some to Claire and Patrick, and some to Raymond. Oh, we could make cards and send presents too.” 

“I’d love that Mom.” 

At that moment, Vanya and Diego came stumbling down the stairs. Diego had his arm wrapped around his sister’s shoulder, and she seemed to be holding most of his weight on her tiny body. 

“Did you two have fun?” 

“Yeah. Diego ran face-first into a tree.”

Diego threw up the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Vanya’s shoulders. “I have a concussion.”

Grace hurriedly stood. “Oh dear! Vanya could you help him lie down, I’ll be right there.”

Allison laughed a little, then started up the stairs. She had something to check on. 

* * *

Vanya hadn’t played a Christmas piece in a while. She hadn’t played violin in awhile either. But just like she’s told her brother, it’s like riding a bike. She tried a few things,  _ We wish you a merry Christmas _ ,  _ Silent night, etc. _

“I really liked that one.”

She swung around to see her brother sitting on her bed.

“Geeez Five! A little warning?”

He shrugged. Vanya sighed.

“I can’t decide which song to play. What do you think I should do.”

“I like anything you play.”

“Well that doesn’t help me.”

“Play something. Anything.”

So she did. She played five songs, finishing off with God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. 

“I liked that one.”

“It’s technically someone telling a whole bunch of people to be happy.”

“Fun.”

Five turned to leave, “Ask Luther if he’d like to play with you. I think he would appreciate it.”

* * *

“This is going to go terribly,” Diego said, staring at the boxes spread out on the table. Candy, Gingerbread, and icing. Klaus punched his shoulder.

“How about some positivity Diego? If we can save the world, twice, then we can make a gingerbread house.”

“May I remind you that we started both apocalypses in the first place?” Five said from his spot at the corner of the table.

“Then we’ll break it before we fix it. It’ll still be fixed.” 

They tried icing the walls, but they kept sliding. 

“Add more icing!”

“You’re just making a mess!”

They got them in place and tried to ice the roof and add candy. Klaus grabbed some of the extra icing.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m making snow idiot! Where else are the gingerbread men gonna go?”

“You’re wasting it!”

Luther sat silently in the corner, slowly losing his shit. 

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” Diego swung his head around so fast his hair hit him in the face.

“I used to make models remember? It’s just fun, watching you all try.”

“Well you get over here and try!”

Luther shook his head. “Don’t wanna break it. And I’m enjoying myself.”

Diego cussed him out under his breath.

The gingerbread men ended up looking kind of scary. One broke in half, and the other ended up headless. Five added icing blood. 

After two hours of yelling and crumbling gingerbread, it was labeled a lost cause. After the remains of the Gingerbread house were disposed of, Vanya decided to practice. She had been playing for about 10 minutes when the distinct sound of piano keys came into her mind's eye. Curious, she headed towards the stairs.

She peered over the bannister, unsurprised to see Luther trying once again to play. He had improved by quite a lot in the last two weeks. Relearning an instrument really was like riding a bike. 

“That sounds great.”

Luther flinched. It was barely noticeable, but Vanya had learned how to tell. 

“Vanya! Thank you… I uh. I’ve been trying to play more, it’s still kind of hard.”

She walked farther down the steps.

“I was playing upstairs, maybe we could play together? Something Christmas-y, I don’t know.”

“Sounds fun.” He smiled.

“Okay,” She positioned her violin, “Do you know um, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?”

“I think so.”

“Great.”

* * *

“I’m not sure I understand dear.”

Ben had brought Grace out into the yard. It was absolutely buried in snow. The remaining stand for his statue now had a snowman on it, courtesy of Luther. In Ben’s humble opinion, it looked much more like him than the other one. 

“It’s easy! You roll up to three snowballs, big, medium, and small. You pile them and decorate.” He pulled off his gloves and started packing snow. 

“But your hands will get cold!”

“It’s impossible to make a proper snowman with gloves, Mom.”

“If you say so.”

Grace, of course, didn’t need gloves. She couldn’t feel the cold. She tried to pack snow, but the lack of body heat made it difficult. Ben handed her the snowball he made and showed her how to roll it in the snow. They finished the three balls and tried sticking them together. They went a little lopsided, but that was alright.

“Now it’s all together, we’re supposed to decorate it. I brought a carrot, but we still need rocks and sticks.”

“For what?”

“The eyes and arms.”

So they went on the hunt. Grace managed to find some rocks, and Ben ripped some branches off a tree when she wasn’t looking. They stuck them on.

“One more thing.”

Ben pulled a few somethings out of his pocket and put them on. Their snowman now had a monocle and a knife in its chest. He put a few drops of red food dye they had kicking around on it.

“What do you think?”

“It looks lovely.” Grace smiled.

* * *

When Allison asked him to come to the nutcracker with her, he didn’t say yes right away. It seemed kind of pointless, it was just a ballet. He never liked dancing, and he certainly didn’t like ballet. But now, Diego sat uncomfortably in a balcony seat that would snap up if he tried to stand. 

“I’m still not sold on this Allison.”

She shushed him. Ballerinas in swishy dresses and cream shoes crowded the stage, then a group of men dressed like rats. 

“What the fuck are they even wearing?”

Then the nutcracker transformed. Diego’s running commentary had come to a suspicious end. Allison followed his panicked gaze to the male ballerina. 

“Like what you see.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” But his face had flushed a dark red.

“It’s completely understandable, I mean look at his legs!”

“Shut up.”

He fidgeted uncomfortably for the rest of the performance, only getting worse when Clara and the Nutcracker danced together. Allison smirked knowingly at him. 

“Can you not?”

“What? There’s no shame in admitting he’s hot.”

“Fine. He’s hot. You happy?”

“Very.”

* * *

Last-minute shopping wasn’t the best idea, Vanya had to admit. But buying something for her mother was incredibly difficult. I mean, it wasn’t as if she developed hobbies and interests normally and Vanya was ashamed to say she hadn’t had a lot of time to put the effort into learning about them. 

She browsed the aisles at the store. Cookies? She can’t eat. Cooking supplies? No she has more than enough, plus it just seemed wrong somehow. 

Grace was created to be a traditional mother who stayed in the kitchen and kept the kids quiet. She had been made an entire wardrobe that she had cycled through their entire lives. That gave Vanya an idea. 

She hopped back into her car and headed to the vintage clothing store. She had the perfect idea. 

* * *

“Allison, I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

Luther leaned against the car, clearly refusing to move. Allison grabbed her bag out of the trunk. 

“Why not?”

“I could break the ice, for one. Two, I really doubt they have skates in my size, three, I am absolutely going to fall.”

“That’s half the fun though!”

“Getting bruises is half the fun?”

“Don’t be a spoilsport. It’s just like dancing, just on ice.”

“Yeah, on something way more slippery than my bedroom floor.”

“Exactly,” Allison grinned, “And don’t worry about the skates, I already got you some.” She tossed him a bag.

“Thanks.” He grumbled.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”

And Luther did fall. A lot. In his mind it was a miracle that the ice didn’t crack. 

“You’re doing great.” Allison said through laughter. 

“I’m really not.”

* * *

“We’re all gonna be so hyper.”

“Oh, but that’s half the fun, Diego! Five will be bouncing off walls and it’ll be amazing.”

“Fine. But we gotta hurry. Ben and I are going down to the food bank to help out.”

So they hopped in the car and drove to the dollar store. They picked up a boatload of candy canes, including the nasty Mac n Cheese ones. They also grabbed cheap Santa chocolates, caramel, and a whole bunch of MnMs. 

“Why are we doing this again?”

“You’ll see!”

They pulled back into the driveway with a dozen bags of candy. 

Ben popped his head out.

“Hey, you ready to go?”

So Diego got back in the car and they drove off, while Klaus started his plan.

When they got back a few hours later, Diego immediately went to join his mother in the kitchen. There were onions and turkey and stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, all spread out on the countertops. 

“Can I help Mom?” 

The woman turned to him with a smile. “Of course dear. I’m nearly finished here, but the potatoes still need to be mashed. Oh and could you call your siblings to set the table?”

“Course,” He stuck his head out of the kitchen, “HEY ASSHOLES SET THE TABLE!”

“Diego! Language!” 

“Sorry mom it gets their attention.”

* * *

Full of food and exhausted, the siblings decided it would be a fantastic idea to do a movie marathon. 

“Alright, we’ve got all three versions of  _ The Grinch _ , all the Christmas  _ Charlie Brown _ movies, those stop-motion ones, and all four Home Alone’s.” Allison held up the DVD cases.

“There were four Home Alone’s?” Luther asked, incredulous. Klaus leaned towards him.

“No. The last two don’t exist.”

They turned on the original Grinch. Luther was curled in on himself on the far left side of the couch, and Diego dropped down next him. Ben was supposed to be  _ sitting _ on the other side, but instead, he laid vertically across his brother’s legs. Shockingly, they didn’t complain. Allison and Klaus were curled up on the other couch. Vanya and Five shared the Laz-y Boy. 

By the time they got to Home Alone 2, Five was eating the bucket of candy Klaus had given him, while leaning on Vanya’s shoulder. Luther silently stroked Ben’s hair as he dozed.

The Hargreeves had just finished their last movie when there was a loud knock on the front door. They were all shaken out of their comfortable complacency.

“I’ll get it,” Allison said, already out of her seat. Snow blocked the peephole, so it was impossible to see who was outside. She opened the door anyway.

“Happy Holida-“ She stopped.

“MOMMY!” A little voice shrieked and Allison ended up with an armful of little girl. 

“Claire, sweetheart! Oh my god.”

She held her daughter tight, choking back sobs. Patrick walked tentatively through the door. 

“I figured this was the best gift I could give.”

“It was,” Allison cried.

“I uh- I got all of her stuff here, and I can pick her up on Monday. She already opened the gifts she had at home, so she should be all set.” He put down Claire’s suitcase and turned to go.

“Wait! You could stay. We’ve got plenty of room and-“

“I would love to, but your family is a bit…”

“Right.”

“I don’t want to end up maimed.”

“Right.”

This was probably the most awkward Allison had ever felt. 

“Well uhm, Claire, your dad has to go, say goodbye.” She lowered her daughter to the ground, and she lept into her fathers open arms.

“I’ll see you soon sweetpea. Be good for your mom, promise?”

“Promise.”

Allison watched him walk down the steps and back to his car. They made eye contact right before he got into the drivers side, and for a moment, she felt at peace. She picked her daughter back up and turned towards the hall. She was completely unsurprised when her siblings came stumbling into the foyer. 

“Claire, sweetie, these are my brothers and sister. There’s auntie Vanya-“

“Hi.”

“And your uncle Ben and uncle Five and uncle Klaus-“

“Bonjour, Princesse.”

“And your uncle Diego, and-“

“Spaceboy!” She shrieked.

“Hi Claire.”

They had just moved back to the living room when Grace walked in with a plate.

“Who wants cookies?”

“Claire, sweetie, that’s your Grandma.”

Grace looked surprised, but absolutely delighted.

“It’s very nice to meet you Claire.”

“If you’re Momma’s Momma, then why do you look so young? How old are you?”

“A lady never tells her age sweetheart.”

They all had their cookies and headed off to bed. 

“But I wanna stay up, I’m not tired!” Claire pouted. Diego heaved the little girl up into his arms.

“If you stay up then Santa might not come!” 

“I already got my presents from Santa, Uncle Diego. He came early this year.”

“Well he hasn’t come here yet. The rest of us haven’t got our gifts from Santa yet, right Five?”

Now, Five was adamant that Santa Claus wasn’t real. There was no way. He would put on a show and a smile for his niece, but once she was put to bed? His reasoning was perhaps the funniest part.

“How could he travel around the world to every house in one night? The equator is a thing, where does he start? What about time zones? And how does he get down the chimney? Some people don’t have chimneys!”

He had a working theory that if Santa was real, then he was secretly a commission agent. 

Klaus, of course, thought this was absolutely hilarious. So he had set up a plan. A plan that included all that candy he had given Five during the movie. He was clearly on a sugar high, and that mixed with him being really tired could lead to very interesting things.

At 3:00 a.m., Klaus grabbed the Santa blow up he’d bought earlier that month and headed down the dark hall. The blow up Santa had glowing red eyes and had a laugh, that would be fine in broad daylight but in the dark in the middle of the night would be horrifying. 

“HO HO HO!”

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

* * *

Christmas morning was a chaotic mess. Five wasn’t sure what else he’d expected. It took over an hour for everyone to open all of their gifts, and there was a lot of yelling.

Grace adored the dress that her youngest daughter had gotten her. Luther seemed the most excited by the model spaceship he had received from Five, and the sweater from Klaus. Diego nearly cried when he opened the gift his niece had brought for him, (a raccoon stuffie with a plastic knife superglued to its paw.) Klaus had gotten Allison a chess set, a game they used to play together as children. He in turn had received a pair of purple tie-dyed high tops. Ben had always gotten books as gifts from his siblings, but he was surprised when he opened Klaus’ gift. A crochet octopus, nearly identical to the one he had received from a fan when they were young. It had gotten taken away by their father when they were 15, never to be seen again. Vanya held the painting of the Cooper Farm she had received from Luther close to her chest, tears threatening to spill over. Five couldn’t help but feel a little neglected when he received something from everyone except Allison.

After everything had settled down, Allison grabbed Claire’s hand and let her from the room. 

“One last gift, you think?” 

Allison and Claire re-entered the room and slowly walked back towards Five in single file with something hidden behind them. Jaws dropped as they passed the others.

“Allison, you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“What did she do?” Five asked. 

“Claire, sweetie, so you wanna show your uncle Five what mama got him?” 

Claire nodded with a giggle. “Uncle Five, shut your eyes and hold out your hands.” the little girl commanded. 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Five could hear hushed groans and laughs from his family, then he felt something soft and… furry? He gently started holding the thing, then something wet and scratchy was on his face and ugh-

His eyes snapped open and holy  _ shit!  _ A puppy. A golden retriever puppy with a dopey dog smile and a bow loosely tied around its neck. He looked wide-eyed and slack-jawed to his sister. 

”You got me a dog?”

She nodded giddily.

“What are you gonna name him Uncle Five?”

“I’m not sure, dear.” Five replied, still in shock. “What do you think I should name him?”

The 7-year-old hmm-d and uhhh-d for a minute before simply stating, “Mr. Pennycrumb. Because he’s little and golden, like pennies and crumbs.”

Everyone choked down their laughter. 

“That’s a wonderful name Claire, thank you.”

Received puppy supplies and one short wrapping paper war later, they decided to go outside and enjoy the white Christmas. Claire, growing up in California, had never seen snow, not to mention on Christmas. But luckily, Patrick had accounted for that and Claire’s suitcase had all she needed. So they all bundled up and headed out.

Five stopped Allison in the hall. 

“Allison, can I talk to you?” 

“Of course! Claire, sweetie, go with your Uncle Ben, okay? I’ll be right there.”

Claire ran ahead and grabbed Ben’s hand. Once she knew her daughter was safe, she turned her attention to Five, who still hadn’t let go of the puppy. 

“I know getting people dogs for Christmas is a risky move, it seemed perfect at the time, I’m sorr-”

“No need to apologize. It was good judgement on your part, I've grown quite fond of Mr. Pennycrumb.” 

“In like, 20 minutes?”

“He’s soft.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“I see.”

“I just wanted to say thank-you properly.”

“You’re welcome. I remembered how much you loved dogs when we were kids, and I figured it’s better late than never.”

Five looked touched. “You remembered that?” He said softly. 

“Of course I did.”

At that moment, Ben ran through the front door with Claire in his arms. Both of them were soaked with snow. 

“Come on! Uncle Diego made teams, you guys are on ours!” Claire yelled. Allison looked down to her brother.

“You ready?”

“Absolutely.”

  
  
  



End file.
